Fifty States

From sea to shining sea, the fifty states have fifty capitals, fifty flags and fifty state birds. Whether you are studying for a test or researching a state report, here’s the best of the Net for students of US geography.

50 States is a fun collection of state facts, trivia and links. If you are trying to memorize the state capitals or postal abbreviations, you can quiz yourself from the list of states on the home page. To see the answers, linger your mouse over the manilla folder next to each state. Other quirky highlights include a link to each state's most famous permanent residents (those in graves), links to each state's license plates (current and historical) and live Web cams from each state.

The purpose of this Library of Congress site is "to have fun with history while learning at the same time." Each state is introduced with a single paragraph overview, but the meat of the site is the tales called Local Legacies. Last year, in celebration of the Library's 200th birthday, more than 1,300 events, crafts, and customs representing traditional American community life were documented with stories and photographs. America's Library is an online collection of these Local Legacies. While you're poking around, be sure to try the Treasure Hunt.

When you need statistics about the American population, who ya gonna call? The US Census Bureau, of course. Although created specifically for kids, many may find these easy-to-access statistics useful. Simply choose a state to view Fun Facts from the 1990 and 2000 census neatly arranged in a single table. Did you know that during this time frame, the average age of a Californian increased from thirty-one years old to thirty-three. If only I could have been more average, I'd have only aged two years that decade!

"Where is Louisiana? Where is Rhode Island?" This timed map game is fun for all ages, whether you are just learning the locations of the states, or are playing to beat your best time. It took me four minutes, fifty-six seconds to finish the game - and yes, I did make a few mistakes. You'll find additional games (such as Capital Field Trip and US Jigsaw Puzzle) by searching the Game Guide for Geography at various grade levels.

Honorable Mentions

The following links are either new discoveries or sites that didn't make it into my newspaper column because of space constraints. Enjoy!